Talk:Episode 180: Gateway to the Sanctuary/@comment-25019163-20140629154828
Impressions of Episode 180: This was a good episode. We got a new OP and ED. V-Road was awesome, tightly tugged at my heart, and I'm going to miss it. It's my second favorite OP of Vanguard, with the first being Believe in My Existence. The new OP was easy to get into as well, and liked the sound. I hope to read the lyrics soon. The EDs have been a treat this season. The animation with them matches very well, and both are light-hearted songs. The new ED was beautiful. The animation contributed greatly with a focus on Aichi, reuniting with everyone at the end. Can't wait for it to happen in series :D! Interestingly, Kourin was not present in the group shot at the end. Onto the episode itself, Ishida manages to spot out Mores in the crowd when walking home from school with Shingo, and tails him to discover another entrance. What a coincidence! Ishida goes by Card Capital to report what he saw to everyone, and they decide to head out, even considering it may a trap. Miwa manges to use his skills to retrace Ishida's footsteps and again discover the passageway to the Gateway. The Gateway teleports them all the way to the moon. There Raul and Mores discover them and the fight begins between Ishida and Raul, who's using a Gran Blue deck this time. There's been no attempt to hide that Raul has a hidden agenda than the rest of Quatre Knights. It's no coincidence Morres happened to be in the street where Ishida was heading at the time, let alone he happened to head to the Gateway without appearing to know he was followed, and that both he and Raul happened to be the first ones to encounter the mates. Also, what's with these new rules to the judgments just when you fight in the Sanctuary? If Kai and co. lose, they lose all memories of Aichi again. That's a lie most likely. The Knights never expected the mates to even step foot in the Sanctuary, so it makes no sense they have this special rule, only when in the sanctuary. It makes more sense to have used it from the very beginning rather than inflicting physical pain that never was effective to deter the mates from finding Aichi. However, why would Raul tell them a lie? Why confront them? If he's using the mates to garner attention, or defeat the other Quatre Knights and Kourin, it makes more sense he just disappear, and let the two groups fight it out. Of course, he has to lose himself to unlock his part of the seal that holds Aichi, but I imagine he would account for ways around that, without having to hurt himself, since the loser receives judgment. One possibility I'd imagine is Kourin, since she seems to be able to come in and out of the barrier at her own discretion. Then, there's the possibly lie. If he's lying, what purpose does it serve? I can only see it as that he's testing them. It goes back to Ishida fighting Morres. Morres' goal was to demoralize Ishida, by listing all the difficulty in trying to find Aichi. If we look at it another way, Ishida was doubting whether Aichi could really be found at the time, and the fight did the opposite of demoralize him. It helped Naoki overcome his doubts. However, was the purpose of that encounter merely to realize a result, or just to observe Ishida, to test him. It's the same in this current fight. I wonder how much of Raul's story is true. His story of fighting with a family member like Ishida is very. . . specific. Again, it seems like he's testing Ishida during the match. There's the supposed rule that the loser will forget Aichi that's hanging over Ishida and Raul constantly bringing up the difference in skill. This fight is more than what it seems.